It didn’t take long for Strikeforce to put freshly-signed welterweight Paul Daley to work. Less than two after acquiring the controversial Brit, it appears the San Jose, California based promotion will pit him against veteran Scott Smith on December 4th inside the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Multiple sources confirmed the scrap with MMAWeekly.com on Wednesday.
Although Smith has competed at middleweight for much of his career, the slugger has agreed to lose some pounds in order to roll out the welcome wagon for Daley. According to the report, Smith was recently walking around at about 185 pounds and shouldn’t have any issues when it comes time to tip the scales.
Daley was fired by the world’s biggest MMA organization this past May for sucker punching Josh Koscheck at UFC 113. The slugger claimed to be “glad” because plenty of other doors would open up. In steps Strikeforce, as the UFC’s stateside rivals have just inked another former Octagon athlete.
He has since posted wins over Daniel Acacio and most recently Jorge Masvidal at “Shark Fights 13.” Daley then parlayed those victories into a six-fight contract with Strikeforce.
Smith has always been one of the sport’s most gracious and classy fighters. He holds a commendable 17-7 record, but has dropped two of his last three bouts. He was most recently seen getting knocked out by Cung Le at “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum” this past June.
It was announced Monday that Renato “Babalu” Sobral would face the iconic Dan Henderson in the night’s featured contest.
Here are the fighters expected/rumored for the Showtime broadcast:
Herschel Walker vs. TBD
Jesse Finney vs. TBD
Scott Smith vs. Paul Daley
Valentijn Overeem vs. Antonio Silva
Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Dan Henderson (Light Heavyweight Bout)
(UPDATED: 9/29/20110 1:30PM PT):
Strikeforce officials have just confirmed the contest. Here are quotes from each fighter:
Daley:
“I am a striker – there is no secret about that. I like to knock people out aggressively and quickly. That’s my game and no opponent’s going to change that. Almost all my fights are exciting and memorable with non-stop action.”
Smith:
“Everyone knows I detest decisions. Fans want action all the time and so do I. That’s what I am all about.”
Eliza Dushku
Adriana Lima
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